Essar Oil, India's largest private fuel retailer, plans to nearly double its petrol pumps to 2,500 by March 2011, group Chairman Shashi Ruia said today.

"We are expanding our petroleum retail business... We are going to increase (number of petrol pumps) to 2,500 by next fiscal (end)," Ruia told reporters at the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Press Trust of India, organised by the Federation of PTI Employees' Union.

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Fuel from the company's outlets in Gujarat are priced almost at par with public sector who get government subsidy for selling petrol and diesel at rates lower than the imported coast.

In the remaining states, Essar sell petrol at Rs 2-4.5 a litre higher than those of state-run Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum while diesel is priced at least a rupee more.

Besides Gujarat, Essar has petrol pumps in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.

Ruia said expansion of retail network would help the company sell increased production of fuel especially diesel at Vadinar refinery.

Essar is expanding the non-fuel retail activities at its outlets and plans to dispense CNG and Auto LPG from the outlets this year.

Essar plans to dispense CNG and Auto LPG through its retail network adding to its product portfolio for the customer.

It has signed agreements with Aegis Logistics for Auto LPG and Sabarmati Gas for supply of CNG. The first rollout of auto LPG stations are planned by this year-end followed by CNG stations in Gujarat, the company had said on January 22.

Essar sold 6.76 million tonnes of the refinery production in the domestic market during April-December 2009.

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